"I think God created sisters because they need to annoy me, bug me and torture me with those Barbie dolls," says a brother who chooses to remain anonymous.

"God made sisters to enjoy you, to get mad at you, and two minutes later to love you," says Stephen, age 10. "He also made them to need you, to not need you, to be totally unpredictable, to be overly sensitive and to blow up if you do anything wrong. He made them to be stool pigeons for parents. Trust me. I know because I have two little sisters, one is 3 and the other is 8."

Stephen, you really covered a lot of ground, but you forgot to mention the Barbie dolls.

"Your sister could help you when you are sick," says Jack, 7. And if you are still sick, then she could get you a blanket and rag to put on your head."

There are few mercies better than a wet rag on a feverish forehead. I remember a wonderful nurse who applied this remedy through the night when I was in the hospital.

"When you are lonely, a sister will play with you sometimes," says Sara, 8. "If someone is making fun of you, and your sister is bigger, then she can make him stop. When you get into trouble, she can make you feel better. When you are scared, she can make you feel better."

OK, sisters are great when you're feeling bullied or sick, but what about the fun stuff? "God created sisters for dress-up parties," says Courtney, 7. "Sisters are for playing dolls, for playing house and for sharing clothes."

You would never catch my brothers sharing clothes, but I suppose sisters are different. Maybe that's because they have more clothes to share. "Girls like to go shopping a lot," says Alyse, 8. "I like to go shopping myself, but my sister is an expert at it."

Sisters are smart, says Nayha, 10: "God created sisters to help their brothers with homework (girls are smart). Sisters were also created to help their mom with stuff in the kitchen. I don't know what I would do without sisters."

"God made sisters because he loves them just the same as boys," says Devon, 8. "They are special."

There are so many reasons why God created sisters, but Morgan, 6, offers the best one yet: "God gave people sisters to have someone else to love."

The two most famous sisters in the New Testament are Mary and Martha. The Bible says, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus" (John 11:5). When their brother was sick, the sisters sent for Jesus. He delayed coming because he wanted to teach them an important lesson.

Lazarus died. Both sisters told Jesus that if only he had been there, their brother would not have died. When Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise again, she didn't realize it would be within the next few minutes. Jesus then said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25).

Resurrected life in Jesus offers all natural sisters the opportunity for double kinship. Relationships of sisters that come from the resurrected life of Jesus last forever because they're based on a life that overcame death.

Think about this: Mary and Martha looked to Jesus as their confidence for resurrection life.

Memorize this truth: John 11:25 previously quoted.

Ask this question: Do you have a sister with whom you share the assurance of life beyond the grave?

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